


Speed

by sageness



Category: DCU
Genre: Canon - Comics, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-09-18
Updated: 2005-09-18
Packaged: 2017-10-03 14:44:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sageness/pseuds/sageness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You are so totally going to pay for that!" Cassie yelled.</p><p>Donna turned a lazy back flip in the clear blue sky. "Gotta catch me first, kiddo."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Speed

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Sidekick challenge at [dc_central](http://www.livejournal.com/community/dc_central/). Thanks to __fallen for the beta.

Early morning sunlight enveloped them, and as they flew, the wind whipped through Donna's hair and Cassie's short black wig.

"Come on, slow poke!"

"You are so annoying!"

"What, don't tell me a simple game of tag is beyond you!"

Cassie's eyes flashed and Donna giggled at her.

"You are so totally going to pay for that!" Cassie yelled.

Donna turned a lazy back flip in the clear blue sky. "Gotta catch me first, kiddo."

Cassie put on a burst of speed and Donna darted out of the way at the last moment.

"Hey! That wasn't fair!" Cassie shouted.

Donna laughed. "Faster, Cassie. The bad guys aren't going to wait for you to catch up with them. Usually. Unless they're the kind of bad guys you really don't want within a hundred miles of you."

"I'm trying!" Cassie shouted from below her, arms tense and back rigid. Donna let Cassie draw closer and then led her to the top of a distant water tower.

"Wow, we're really out in the weeds," Cassie said as she touched down next to her. "Okay, so why is this so hard? Asking Zeus for powers wasn't this hard!"

"That's because you had no idea what you were asking for."

"Gee, thanks."

Donna snorted. "Like you had _any_ idea. Hello, you were twelve!"

"That's not the point!"

Donna gave her a wry smile and said, "I know, hon. I do." Cassie scuffed her boot against a steel roof strut, radiating frustration. "Okay, know what?" Donna said. "Let's try this." She floated up, sitting Indian style in the air. "Here, face me."

"What are we doing?" Cassie asked, mirroring her position.

"See, it isn't muscular and it really isn't about willpower, either, even though it sort of seems like it on the surface."

"Diana and Artemis keep going on about faith...."

"And it keeps not making any sense to you, right?"

Cassie looked down at the ground below them. "I guess? I mean, it just seems so vague! All my life, my mom's been all about self-reliance and stuff, you know? Like we don't need no stinkin' men to do anything for us...and how you have to use scientific method to solve problems and without proof, all you've got is a lot of hot air."

"And to some extent, that's true," Donna said gently, "but you see, Zeus gave you something-"

"And it defies all that." Cassie scowled in frustration.

"Nah, see, it transcends it."

"What? How?"

"Watch." Donna unfolded her legs and shot straight up into the sky, rocketing up into the upper atmosphere and then returning to her point of origin in a matter of seconds.

"Whoa...."

"See, we aren't mutants or aliens. We can fly because a divine being said the word and made it so, and it really doesn't matter whether it's because of Zeus or Aphrodite or Hera or whoever. Now, obviously, your relationship with Zeus enters the equation of how easily you can accept and integrate these abilities into your life-"

"But if our gods are real, then aren't all the other gods real, too?"

Donna took a breath. "For the most part, yes."

Cassie crossed her arms over her chest. "So, is the sun a ball of fiery gas or Apollo's chariot flying across the sky?"

"Who's to say they aren't one and the same?"

"Donna!" she cried, looking outraged.

"No, look. They're two totally different paradigms for the same phenomenon. Science calls it a G-class star. The ancient Greeks called it Apollo. Could be that these days Apollo enjoys looking like a G-class star. Maybe he gets a kick out of that. It's his choice what he wants his body to look like, you know?"

"Oh." Cassie chewed her lip thoughtfully. "So how is that going to make me fly faster?"

Donna grinned at her. "How fast do you imagine Zeus could fly if he wanted to take a joy ride in a human body like yours or mine?"

"Um...I guess as fast as he wanted to?"

"Oh yeah?" Donna asked with a wink. "And where did you get your powers again? Zeus, right?"

Cassie's eyes went wide with sudden understanding. "Yes!" she shouted as Donna rocketed skyward again, and for the first time ever, Cassie chased her at speed.


End file.
